Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

"Inhale—Exhale—"

In the virtual outer space of the universe, Richard took a deep breath and surveyed the stars all around, eventually locking onto one of them.

He slowly raised his hand, aiming distantly at that star, gently pulling it toward him.

In an instant, the entire space of the universe began to warp and deform. The rest of the stars fled rapidly into the distance, while the one Richard selected approached quickly, appearing before his eyes.

It was a young main-sequence star in the hydrogen-burning stage, slightly larger than the Sun, with an overall orange-red hue.

Orbiting it were a total of seven planets. Among them, the planet in the fourth orbit appeared blue, with only a green patch at the equator, like a decorative spot.

Richard reached out, pulled the planet closer, and saw it clearly.

This was a planet with life, similar to Earth, but over ninety percent of its surface was ocean, with only a massive island at the equator, which was the green area seen earlier.

Once Richard saw it clearly, he did not hesitate. He adjusted his posture and descended toward the island at the planet's equator.

A few minutes later, Richard passed through the dense atmosphere, lightly landing on the island's surface.

To his left and right were lush forests, and ahead, after passing a small blue stone path, stood a magnificent library on an open field.

The entire library had a typical Gothic style: towering spires, lightweight stone columns, exquisite flying buttresses, and brilliant stained-glass windows. It looked more like a cathedral than a library.

Richard admired it for a few seconds, then stepped to the library's door, reached out to push open the somewhat heavy oak door, and entered the library's interior.

Inside the library, it was quiet, silent, not a soul in sight.

But it was not eerie. The afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows, falling on the ground, casting colorful spots. The air exuded a serene atmosphere, as if this was a place where one could shed all real-world worries.

After all, there was only memory here.

Only memory.

Richard rolled his neck and walked deeper into the library, where he could see one after another towering mahogany bookshelves, each over three meters tall, filled with hefty books—roughly estimating, the books on the top shelf could only be reached by climbing a wooden ladder.

Richard walked to the nearest shelf and pulled out a gray-covered book to flip through.

Opening the first page, he saw no text, only numerous illustrations, some of which moved like images, and even emitted sounds, had smells, and could be touched...

In the center of the page was a green frog with large eyes curiously gazing at Richard. After a while, it seemed a bit bored and "plop," jumped out of the page onto the ground, hopping away into the distance.

Richard raised an eyebrow and called out, "Come back!"

"Ribbit!"

The frog turned its head and called out to Richard, as if a bit displeased. But the next moment, it turned into a streak of green light and returned to the page, motionless.

Shaking his head slightly, Richard knew this was not the book he was currently looking for. He put it back and took out another to open.

On the first page were images: a pair of chopsticks, a pair of bells, a piece of rice cake...

"1100 AD..." Richard read on, after a few sentences, shook his head, and put it back again. This was not the book he was looking for either, as the earliest nuclear weapon research started in the 20th century.

Pulling out a third book, it had images of: a strangely shaped willow tree, a throne symbolizing the Emperor, a piece of rice cake...

"1695 AD... Alright, not this one either."

Putting back the third book, Richard pursed his lips and turned his head towards the part of the library close to the wall.

There stood a row of six enormous statues, each over four meters tall, with bizarre shapes.

Among them, the leftmost statue resembled a turtle. However, its neck was exaggeratedly long, like a snake, similar to the mythical creature known as Xuanwu. Compared to Xuanwu, its shell was remarkably flat, without any bulges or patterns, more like a table surface.

Richard spoke out, "Soma!"

"Clatter!"

With a rustling sound, the turtle statue came to life.

Its eyes turned to Richard, and it buzzed, "My creator, welcome back, is there anything I can do for you?"

"I need to find books related to Uranium 235 refinement now," Richard said.

"Uranium 235 refinement?" The turtle statue thought for a few seconds before stepping aside, "Alright, I know where it is, please follow me."

Thereafter, the turtle statue passed through three consecutive oak doors, arriving at a room within the library where everything was purple.

This room was about five hundred square meters, filled with purple.

The carpet was purple, the wallpaper was purple, the ceiling was purple, the chandelier was purple, and even the decorations were purple.

After entering, the turtle statue went straight to a bookshelf, extended its neck, and picked up the topmost book with its mouth, gently handing it to Richard.

It was a massive book over half a meter wide and more than twenty centimeters thick, more like a slab than a book.

The turtle statue handed it to Richard, buzzing, "My creator, I believe this is the book you are looking for."

Upon hearing this, Richard opened it and saw the initial image of: a cyan pottery jar, fish swimming in water...

He glanced down a few lines, confirming it was indeed correct, and looked at the turtle statue, "Soma, thank you."

"It is my duty and my honor. I hope you enjoy your private time next, my creator," the turtle statue said, then lay down beside Richard, its neck twisting into a peculiar shape.

The turtle statue now resembled a massive stone table combined with an abstract-style stone chair.

Richard naturally sat on the turtle statue's neck and spread the massive book flat on its back.

The moment it was placed, the book trembled slightly, and the images vanished, turning into rows of text—the text of Uranium 235 refinement methods.

"Regarding Uranium 235 refinement methods, the currently known ones are as follows..."

Richard looked and showed a somewhat satisfied expression. He then extended his hand, and without much movement, a ceramic cup fell from the ceiling into his hand.

"Coffee," Richard said.

"Swoosh..."

A stream of black liquid descended steadily into the cup, emanating an invigorating aroma—it was coffee, at an optimal temperature.

Richard took a deep sip and then released his hand, allowing the coffee-filled cup to fall to the ground.

The cup did not shatter but seemed to pass through a thin membrane, disappearing through the carpet and the ground, vanishing without a trace.

At this moment, Richard leaned slightly forward, showing a serious expression, his gaze falling on the book's pages, fully focused on reading.